Ex-assistant band teacher at Gibsonburg High School awaits sentencing

GIBSONBURG - A 29-year-old former assistant band teacher for Gibsonburg High School is awaiting sentencing after admitting to police he had a sexual relationship with a student in 2016.

The female student, now 18, was 17 at the time and became friends with Eduardo Garza, who told police he developed a relationship with the girl through the social media application Snapchat.

Garza, of Helena, pleaded guilty to a fifth-degree felony count of illegal use of a minor in nude material, and a third-degree felony count of abduction under a felony sexual battery charge.

As part of his plea, Garza was ordered to register as a Tier 1 sex offender. He faces up to three years in prison for the abduction charge and up to one year for the crime of illegal use of a minor in sexual material.

Police began investigating the suspect in April 2017 when a classmate of the girl reported a Snapchat conversation between the students about her relationship with Garza.

After hearing about the investigation, Gibsonburg Local Schools Superintendent Tim Murray said Garza was placed on administrative leave and his supplemental contract expired at the end of the 2016-2017 school year.

When questioned by police, the girl said the sexual encounters were consensual, according to a Gibsonburg Police report.

The girl said she and Garza began to have a sexual relationship around November 2016 and that the two had sex more than 20 times between November 2016 and April 2017, according to the police report.

Screen shots from Snapchat conversations show the girl saying that she and Garza began talking to each other after her junior year at Gibsonburg High School, and said in a Snapchat that "it's not up to your mind who you fall for, it's your heart," the message said. "But my heart loves him."

The girl told her classmate she knew their relationship was wrong, but that it did not matter to her. She told the classmate that her parents did not know about her relationship with Garza, the report said.

When questioned by police, Garza said he and the girl began talking as friends in 2016, and said she and some friends would go to his house to hang out.

The report said towards the end of the summer of 2016, that the girl would be the only one at his house and that their relationship developed into kissing and foreplay.

Garza told police he would send naked pictures to the girl and that the girl would send naked photos to him via Snapchat, according to the police report.

"He stated he felt guilty about what they were doing because she is a student," the report said.

After finishing their investigation, a warrant for Garza's arrest was filed and he was taken into custody by police during a May 9 traffic stop.